Streaks In The Sky
by RH132008
Summary: Three months since she'd left, and still his words repeated over and over in her head. Your better off without me, I'll only hurt you again, It's better this way. [House and Stacy, set three months after Need to Know. Eventually will be rated M.
1. What To Do?

It was all she could do to keep from breaking down again. Three months. Three months since she'd left, and still his words repeated over and over in her head. _Your better off without me, I'll only hurt you again, It's better this way._ She half snorted and half choked through her tears, how was this better? How was this an improvement? It wasn't, It was worse.

The claws had been wrapped around her and the confusion had snaked its way into her open wounds. The addiction, it was so powerful, the cravings had become so frequent and wasteful. Love and Mark? Not anymore. It wasn't the same, he was getting closer and closer to full recovery and still he was so distant she hardly knew who he was anymore. Still she loved him only the addiction and distance were tearing them apart. Trying to get him to talk to her was nearly impossible, and the fights. The oh so many fights. Over everything, the big things, the little things, but most of all nothing.

She was so confused and drained, her blended emotions always traveled back to the one man. House. She missed her Curry, ached for him emotionally and physically. The feel of his lips against hers for the first time in 5 years just felt so right. All the heat and passion they shared the night before she turned in her resignations forms, it was tender and sweet.

So why, why now. Why did he have to tell her that, was he trying to protect her, or did he not feel the same way she did. Not knowing was chipping at her tolerance and strength, some moments she wanted to strangle him and others she wanted to kiss him senseless.

She didn't know what to do. Mark was-----he was what she thought she wanted. Stacy told herself that when they're love wasn't as deep as hers and House's was. When they attempted to have long talks during the night, and the witty banter wasn't as playful. She told herself that was fine because she wanted to forget the past, or at least try to and be happy with Mark.

But the smile, the smile he only flashed for her, the one that made her melt and feel all tingly inside. The way he totally broke down for her and bared his soul, how gentle and pushy he was all at the same time. Brilliant and sexy, fun and complicated--she hugged her pillow as the tears made lonely races down her face. Mark was out again, he didn't say why but then again he rarely told her anything anymore. Barely touched her.

Would she be willing to handle and compromise the moods and loneliness that House brought, just to be able to say I'm with him and I love him no matter what the cost. He couldn't change for her, she knew this but she couldn't let him go, not now. He meant to much and she loved him to much.

Her head hurt and she was tired of thinking, if she went back to House she would be happy, but that happiness would come at a price. If she stayed with Mark, she would never be fully happy. It was all getting on her nerves, the thinking and comparing it all made her want to forget and go to sleep but naturally that wasn't easy either. What to do?


	2. She's Gone

His bed felt cold and empty, was he used to the feeling...sure. It used to be a place where he could forget everything and lay sprawled out comfortably, and perfectly content with staring at the ceiling. Connecting the paint designs to make animals or objects, it was a place where the aches and pains of living and thinking would down to a dull hum in the back of his mind. Now, now the warm and and comfortable cove of comforters and pillows did what everything else did. Wracked his brain with mixed emotions unable of construing.

Three months. Thats how long she'd been gone, and still, her scent lingered around his room. Berries n' Creme. Gone again but he didnt know if it was her fault or his fault this time. Honestly, he didnt know whos fault it was the first time. His for pushing her away, or hers for making him push her away. The leg, the smoking, the fights mostly forgiven but not all. Their night together it was so special and forgiving, open wounds had begun to heal.

The next day while in the open corridor he'd watched her wheel Mark to physio, the smile they exchanged had insisted they'd forgiven and forgotten. House wondered if it would ever be that easy if Stacy and him were to get back together. He couldnt change for her, his work and love for medicine had become his number one priority over the past five years. What if he couldnt let her back in or couldnt deal with having himself vulnerable again. She had the key to his heart but what if the lock jammed, or was to rusted and iced over to be unlocked.

He didnt want to hurt her again and if he didnt change, how was he going to do that. He was all about rationality, everything must have an explanation. The rational side of him knew they shouldnt be together but the irrational side was telling him to take her back and give all the love he had to give. Can you defy destiny and fate?

3 months to today (The Roof)

Greeted with a kiss, unexpected even though they're at their special spot. He returns it with the same passion as the night before, breaking away with a smile. It quickly fades when he looks at her and remembers what he needs to say.

"New case?" She asks. He's almost tempted to say yes and postpone this moment so he can savor the feeling of being this close to her ever again.

"No, just thinking," He replies. She smiles and presses her lips lightly to his again.

"Last night was fun," She whispers into his ear. His eyes close at the warmth that tickles his earlobe, once again savoring.

"Yeah it was, I see you haven't lost your beastly touch." He almost laughs at the blush that runs up her neck, but frowns again at the words that are about to leave his mouth. He looks away for a bit, his arm still perfectly fit around her waist. Perfectly. That thought was making it all the more harder. With a weary, regretful sigh he begins.

"Stace, we cant do this, its---your're just better off without me."

She looked at him so confused, better off without him? She shook her head and stepped back from their embrace. "Greg, wha-"

"I'll just, I'll never be what you want. I want you to be happy and you said it yourself when you were with me you were lonely."

Looking into her eyes, he saw the equivalent of confused, surprised and heartbreak. They almost looked of innocence. He mentally winced when a tear slid down her cheek. His calloused thumb swiped it away.

"Mark will get better, he'll let you back in again. Just give him time, and if he dosent you can beat him with a stick."

He saw a smile curl at her lips and allowed himself one as well. "I love you," he whispered. He lifted her chin up and wiped away another tear.

"I love you to," She choked out. Those words tore at his heart and he needed to leave before he took back everything.

"I know, just be happy"

With one last swab to her cheek, he glanced around at the fluttering snow, twisting and turning, and then back to her broken eyes before limping to door and heading back inside. He learned later on that day that she was resigning. There was no goodbye. That night scotch was his best friend.


	3. Stacy's Bitter Thoughts

June 5, 2006

Stacy sat in her office, she had just finished a new case and work was scarce at this point. Her new job was at a place called Smith&Cline, a fairly large law firm where the people were nice enough but work was always the subject of day to day gossip. It wasn't like at PPTH where the staff were placing bets on who would sleep with who, and how long the new staff members would last.

She sighed and looked at the clock for the thousandth time that day, still ten minutes until she could leave for lunch and the low grumble in her stomach was making its way to a loud roar. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. It had to be sometime the day before, lunch maybe? Breakfast? All she knew was her waist line had gotten considerably thinner and that wasn't a good thing.

A knock at the door grabbed her attention, and she quickly sat upright. Through the door Jacklyn peeked her head through and gave Stacy a small smile.

"Hey, wanna have lunch," She asked. Stacy returned her smile half-heartedly.

"I think I'm going to skip today," She lied, "I have alot of work to do."

"You just finished a case."

"Yeah but all this follow up paperwork. It never ends."

Jacklyn nodded her head and gave a sympathetic look, pushing a few stray hairs out of her face. "Tomorrow?"

"Sure," Stacy said. She watched as Jacklyn quickly disappeared from the doorway, and relaxed back into her chair. Her eyes closed and she tapped her pen on the desk. She really didn't feel like having lunch with anyone, anytime, but she didn't want to come off as non-social, although she could think of another person who practiced it. "No," She thought. She wasn't supposed to think about him, not his sexy stubble, or his crystal blue eyes. She wasn't even aware of the tiny smile on her lips until it faded when her phone rang.

"Hello"

"Hey, some of the guys and me are going to Nick's house to watch the Yankees game, so, I probably wont be home till late. That okay?"

She winced as his last two words came out cold and icy, she frowned and shifted the phone to her other ear. "Thats fine sweety," She replied, fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Good, see you later."

"Bye."

Stacy hung up the phone and scribbled on her desk calender, "At least he had the decency to tell me he wouldn't be there," She thought bitterly. Her stomach made a loud rumble, she needed some food. Getting up and grabbing her purse she shut the computer monitor off and headed to the door. Maybe she could think clearly with some food in her stomach.


	4. Breathing And Counting

Chapter 4: Breathing And Counting

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. House counted out the reps during his Saturday workout. There was only three people who knew about his little routine, Wilson, Stacy, and himself. His workouts seemed to increase in the last three months, up to three times a week including Saturday. During his workouts, he could concentrate on muscles growing and tightening, and focusing on breathing and counting.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and eyes as he worked his triceps, breathing in and out, counting in fives. Setting the weight down he flexed his arms and found they were fully pumped. Now onto his legs, this would hurt. Settling himself on the floor he began to stretch, managing not to overstretch his right one, even though it was getting easier and easier due to continuous workouts.

Rolling on his stomach, he lay with his head on the carpet for a few minutes before doing half push ups for his lower back muscles. They were becoming more and more defined as were the rest of them. He rolled back over and did some sit ups until his stomach began to burn. When he finally stood back up he wobbled, a little dizzy, but then sat back down on the weight bench.

He looked at the clock, four-fifteen, he'd been working out for 2 hours now and decided that was enough. Sweat was pouring off his head and his shirt was soaked as he entered the bathroom. Setting the shower steamy hot, he stepped in and steadied himself with a hand against the wall. Water cascaded over his head and body, soothing the tired muscles.

The workout was over and his misconstrued thoughts were once again plaguing him. Stacy. She loved showers. Well he loved showers, with her, but she loved bubble baths. "Typical woman," He thought. She'd even gotten him to take a bath with her. He'd complained and said all those candles were a fire hazard, not to mention laying in a tub for an hour was useless and the number one cause of pruny skin. The truth was after all the complaining he'd enjoyed it, but he never let her know that.

Picking up the soap he lathered it in his hands, washing the sweaty mess from his skin. He stopped when he came to his stomach, letting a hand pass over the now bumpy area. There was the smallest hint of a six pack coming through, that was never his aim but he had to admit it gave him a sense of accomplishment.

After finishing getting clean, he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. When he swung the bathroom door open a gust of cold air hit his body, causing a shiver. Stupid air conditioner was turned up to high. He stood in the door way for a few minutes before limping to the his night stand and popping a Vicodin, his leg was aching from all the activities and he needed to cool off.

When he finally sat down on the couch after awhile, he was annoyed and cursing himself for forgetting to wash clothes. The only thing he had clean to wear was a pair of pants, normally he wouldn't care but it was still cold because of the air conditioner. The phone rang and he decided to let the answering machine get it.

"House, House I know your there, pick up the phone." House rolled his eyes but made no evidence of moving.

"Come on House, I'm still coming over later whether your there or not."

"Not If I beat you with my cane," House thought.

"Whatever, I'll se---"

House laughed as Wilson was cut off by the answering machine, taking a swig of his water, he flipped on the TV. General Hospital Friday was on soap net and he began to watch, eventually finding himself laying down and half asleep when the phone rang again.


	5. The Warden Is Calling

House was half conscious when the message was playing but he could identify the voice from a mile away.

"HOUSE! THREE lawsuits in two days. What the hell is wrong with you? I'm going to smash your stupid game boy in t--"

"Why Dr. Fun bags so nice of you to call, I'm afraid I wont need your services tonight."

"House, I mean it, your treading on thin ice," Cuddy spat.

"Well I hope your not going skating then, otherwise were both in trouble."

"You think this is funny?" She asked. He made a weird face at the phone, as if she even had to ask.

"Yeah, ok, we'll go with that, but its only fair because you woke me up from a hot dream, Carmen was just about to take her shirt off"

"Oh you poor baby"

"Oh I know, I'm just waiting for my ba ba to warm up."

Cuddy snickered into the phone and House rolled his eyes. "So did you just call to screech or do you have a reason, I told you I don't feel like being tied down and whipped tonight."

"You wish House, Can you just try and not get a lawsuit tomorrow, I'm still having trouble finding a lawyer."

House scoffed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know, its not very sexy when you sound desperate."

Cuddy gave a long tire sigh, why did he have to be so difficult. "House," She pleaded.

"It depends on how many idiots I have to treat," He said.

"Fine, I'll give you two hours off of clinic duty but thats it."

He thought for a moment and decided he could get another hour out of this. "3 hours, and how long does it take to find one, don't you know know a guy who knows a guy?"

"Yes but unfortunately and I cant imagine why, when they find out you work at the hospital they wont come within fifty feet of it."

"Hmmmmm, cant help you there"

"WHAT! Yes you can, you can stop getting lawsuits idiot"

"But I wanna have fun," He whined. Almost being able to see the roll of her eyes through the phone, House grinned and limped into the laundry room.

"If you get one more I'm going to quadruple your clinic hours"

"Is that a threat," He asked, taking out a white t shirt from the dryer, he slipped it over his head.

"I'm hanging up now," Cuddy said, getting annoyed.

"Fine, sweet dreams"

"Shove it House."

House widened his eyes, "Damn wom---" Nothing but dial tone. "Wonder why she's so pissed off," He thought.

After putting the phone back he was about to sit down again when there was a knock at the door.

"Damn it Wilson, I'm putting you on my cause of death list," House grumbled, swinging open the door. Wilson stepped out of the way as fast as he could but the door still slammed into his shoulder.

"Jesus man, I almost dropped the beer."

"What difference does it make, you buy all that cheap crap anyways," House complained, but moved out of the way and Wilson slid past him.

"It's better than that hundred year old stuff you keep in fridge, I think it's contaminated."

With a roll of eyes, House flopped down beside Wilson and grabbed a beer.

"Come to think of it," He said, taking a large slurp. "I did some experiments with that stuff using the chemistry set I bought at the store."

"Okay--I'm still trying to figure comprehend why you bought a chemistry set."

"Hmmmmm, maybe I wanted to do something crazy like, oh, I don't know, chemistry?"

Wilson raised his brows and bit his bottom lip, trying to fight off a smile. He grabbed a super sized bag of Lays chips and Diritos out of the bag he'd brought, and opened the Lays. "Everything you do is crazy, so why do you need a chemistry set?"

"Every mad scientist has one, that and I was currently working on a potion that would increase Cuddy's cup size to an G."

Wilson gave a snort and ran a hand over his face. "They don't even have a letter G for cup size, do they?"

"They, will, Cuddy will be the first, she'll make Pam Anderson's look like cow tities, and If mix the chemicals right they may be able to support a small civilization."

House looked at Wilson who almost had tears coming from his eyes, he snatched the beer from Wilson's hand that threatened to fall, and set it on the coffee table. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"They're called utters House, did you learn that in say what, kindergarten?"

House rolled his eyes and kicked his feet back onto the table. "They have nipples and they produce milk, no reason to give them special names."

"Yes, but I don't know many woman who have six boobs either."

"Interesting, but creepy."

Wilson shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck, he should have just left it alone.

"Isn't there a game on, you have all the ESPN channels. There, Hawks vs. Eagles?"

"Bet you twenty bucks the Eagles take it." House said.

"Your on, but this time you cant count the interceptions and say they might have been touch downs and add a touch down."

"Your just mad because your team lost, don't worry I'm sure they'll take their next beating with pride."

"Do you ever shut up," Wilson asked.

"Only if I get some Diritos."

House watched Wilson sigh and caught the bag thrown to him. He opened it and started munching them down, he caught Wilson staring at him.

"What?" House asked with a mouthful of chips.

"Do I get some this time?"

House looked at the bag and then Wilson, he reached in and pulled out a single chip and handed it to him. Wilson took it and glared at him.

"Idiot"

They went back to watching the game and House had a tiny smile on his face.


	6. Relieving Some Stress

Another month had passed and Stacy was slowly but surely falling into a deep depression. Mark and her had spoken at least 4 times in the past week, mostly because he was never home, but when he did say something to her it usually came out sharp and to the point, or maybe just a 'hey'. Jacklyn and herself were becoming friends and would go out, whenever Jacklyn could get her out of the house or office of course.

Tonight was one of those nights and Stacy was just finishing getting ready, her clothes were dressy but not overly. She touched her cross while looking herself over in the mirror, she'd done a fairly good job at hiding the dark circles under her eyes but they still looked a little bloodshot. The week had gone by and the total of between five to six hours of sleep was really taking its toll, she'd managed to eat but, usually whenever she looked at food now there was a little sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her skin was a little pale and her smoking had increased to about 5 cigarettes a day. To say the least, she was a mess, but she kept her head high, hoping that things would get better.

He came across her thoughts at least once every five minutes, and some how it was helping her get through the day. She still couldn't figure it out, she thought it was what he wanted, what they both wanted. To be together, she didn't want to be protected, she wanted to take a chance and be with him, make her own choices. She made a mistake the first time and she was tired of paying for it, but that was where the fear came in, not knowing what to do about it really didn't help either. She couldn't just show up at his house and ask for him to be with her again. Could she?

There was a loud banging at the door and Stacy straightened herself up, trying to look halfway excited. When she opened the door Jacklyn squealed and threw her arms around Stacy.

"Aren't you excited," Jacklyn gasped, stepping back. "You just won your first important case"

Stacy looked confused for a minute. Case? What case?--- OH! The Websters case, right, very important. She should be jumping with excitement.

"I am just, have a lot to do tomorrow, lots of errands to run, plus I'm really tired."

"Oh, I bet you are, how long were you working on it 3 weeks?" Jacklyn asked. Stacy nodded and grabbed her coat, plastering on a fake smile.

"Where we going?" She asked.

"Just a little place to celebrate, Where's Mark?"

"Oh, boys night out, you know how it is"

"Men," Jacklyn scoffed, "probably off guzzling beer and eating pork rinds somewhere"

Stacy laughed and shut the door behind her, "Probably," She agreed.

They climbed into Jacklyn's explorer, switching radio stations and making small talk the whole way there. When they finally pulled up to a place called Frosty's Bar and Grill, Stacy's first thought was Margaritas, and lots of them. She got out and followed Jacklyn in, they sat at the bar and Jacklyn smiled at her.

"Thought you could use a break," She said.

"You thought right, good thing you drove"

The bartender came over and they ordered a couple drinks, mostly listening to the music playing in the background. A guy with dirty, ratty old clothes came over and tried to hit on Jacklyn, Stacy watched as Jacklyn cringed at the man. He had cavity filled teeth and greasy blond hair, his breath smelt like something died and his B.0 was so strong it could have killed a plant.

"Get away from me, moron" Jacklyn said, rolling her eyes and giving an 'what an idiot' face to Stacy.

"I got a truck" He said, gruffly, pressing himself against her.

"And I have a SUV, my how many different kinds of vehicles there are."

The man chuckled and leaned into her ear, "you know you cant resist all this," he whispered.

Jacklyn raised her eyebrows and snorted, "Yeah because your just so clean and cut."

He paid her no attention and tried to go in for a kiss, she pushed him away. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She yelled. The bartender came over and looked the man square in the eye.

"Hey buddy, leave the lady alone before I kick your a out, got it?"

The man raised his hands up in surrender and walked away, but not before winking at Jacklyn. Stacy looked at him and then rolled her eyes.

"What a dumba," She said.

"I know," Jacklyn agreed, making a disgusted face. She sighed and turned back to the bar.

"He probably still lives with his mom"

"Yeah," Stacy said, sipping her drink. Jacklyn looked at her and quirked and eyebrow.

"Okay, why don't you save us some time and tell me whats wrong,"

Stacy glanced in her direction and then back to her drink, "Nothings wrong."

"Yes there is, I've seen you, you barely eat, your tired all the time and that isn't just from working on a case, your a little pale and don't think I don't know about the circles under your eyes."

Stacy gave a low chuckle and looked at Jacklyn, "Can't get anything past you can I," She asked. Jacklyn gave a warm smile and shook her head. "Now spill," She commanded.

"Secret?" Stacy asked, thinking it may be better if she told someone.

"Secret," Jacklyn confirmed. With a long contented sigh Stacy began.

"There was this guy, brilliant doctor, he could diagnose anything, just really good. He had these crystal blue eyes and short brown hair, kind of a ruff looking bad boy face going on, it was all stubbly and scratchy but just, drop dead sexy. He acted like a bad boy but deep down he was a big softie." She stopped to give a little laugh. "He'd deny ever bit of that if he heard it, but its true."

"Did you live with him? Were you married?" Jacklyn asked.

"The first date was disastrous, he kept trying to be someone he wasn't and once in awhile he would spit out these sarcastic lines and give all these analogy's, it would give me a glimpse of who he really was, it just didn't go very well, but the second one, it was at a bar. Before we even sat down I told him to cut the crap and show me who he really was, he gave kind of a half sneer and sat down, ended up telling almost everything, like he kept it locked inside for the longest time." Stacy said with another chuckle.

"So----what happened?" Jacklyn asked.

"We lived together for five years the first four were just amazing, great sex, great listener, turns out he even liked to cuddle."

A giggle bubbled out of Jacklyn and she took another sip of her drink. "You said the first four, what happened in five?"

Stacy bit her bottom lip and felt a wave of sadness pass over her, bleakly, she began to explain about the infarction, all the guilt and pain, House's pushing her away. Then how she came back after 5 years, wanting House to treat Mark and the night at the hotel and House's place. She was in tears when she finished and Jacklyn wrapped an arm around her, giving a half-hug.

"Hey," Jacklyn said, "we should get out of here and go watch some movies, at my place."

Stacy laughed, and wiped her eyes with a tissue. "what about Brice?"

"Oh, he's off at some dumb monster truck show," Jacklyn smiled. Stacy laughed again, suddenly she had a pretty good idea of what House was doing tonight. "Are you sure," She asked.

"Of course, now come on."

The paid the tab and grabbed their coats it was a little chilly outside for a night in July but scorching hot during the day.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, what kind of movies do you have?"

"All kinds, chickflics, and Si Fi, I've got ET"

Stacy smiled and followed her out, they were almost to the car when they both felt cold metal against their backs.


	7. All The Worst: Part 1

Try to sort out my thoughts

But all my sad songs have stopped

Ties between battles and wars I fought

Now bittersweet misery is all I got

Examine our pictures of the good times

Memories, of when everything was just fine

Chapter 8: All The Worst (kinda short)

"Dont move," said a nasty voice behind them. Stacy and Jacklyn stood still, neither dared to look back or at eachother. Stacy's eyes wondered around, desperately looking for someone, anyone that might be able to help them, but the streets were clear and it was well past one AM. Another voice came down beside Jacklyn's ear, it was hoarse and scratchy, just like the mans in the bar.

"Told ya you wouldn't be able to resist, didn't think I was lying did you?"

The two men dragged them ito and empty all, it smelt like mold and rotting fish, making Stacy's stomach queezy. She fought against the man, who inturn cracked the end of his gun against her head, leaving a deep gash oozing of blood. She whimpered in pain and slid down the dirty wall.

"GET UP BTCH," he yelled. The man from the bar smacked Jacklyn across the face from fighting and turned to the other man.

"Shut the fk up Chuck, you want someone to hear?"

"Why are you using my real name dumba?"

"Shut up, it won't matter, we'll make'em forget, now lets do this."

Chuck flashed an ugly smile at Stacy and whipped his back hand across her face a few times. When he began to rip at her clothes, she started to scream and kick, making 'Chuck' hit her harder.

"Sit still or I'll put one right in your head." He growled. Stacy froze as the small metal barrel made contact with her temple, she swallowed the bitter sweet taste of blood going down her throat.

"That's a good girl, now--"

"Whats going on back there?"

The two men looked up and saw the bartender standing there, he charged at them and the two men scrambled to their feet.

"Lets get the fuk outta here" Chuck yelled, the man fromt the bar smiled at Jacklyns almost lifeless body laying on the ground, putting the gun to her chest, the last thing Stacy heard was the click of a trigger.

What you don't know Is when I'm all alone

These colors blend together 


	8. All The Worst: Part 2

The rest seemed to go by in slow motion, the hospital , the police, the questioning. 'Flat-lined in the ambulance, couldn't bring her back.''Flat-lined in the ambulance, couldn't bring her back.''Flat-lined in the ambulance, couldn't bring her back.' Gone, gone, gone, everything was leaving, numbness consuming her. Her eyes unfocused and---why?

"Are you sure your going to be alright?" Officer Keating asked.

Alright, she didn't know, conscious and living, no matter how much she despised it right now, yes. Never the less, Stacy nodded her head and proceeded to get out of the car, not bothering to look back. She walked up stairs in a trance, a feeling of anger welled up inside her as soon as she looked through the doorway of her bedroom.

Mark and some bimbo in her bed, their bed. Her fists shook with anger and she stomped into the room, taking the nearest lamp she threw it against the wall, watching red faced as it shattered to pieces. Mark'as head jerked up and the first thing his face made contact with was Stacy's hand.

"HOW could you do this Mark, how?" She screamed. Going to the closet she pulled out a suit case and began violently shoving clothes in it.

"Stacey I---"

"WHAT, can explain," She yelled from the closet, "Whats your excuse, we were having a sleep over, if so I'm not even good enough to invite now,"

Mark struggled into his boxers and went to the closet, gasping when he saw her. There was a thin line of stitches across the crown of her head, and an even smaller line across her bottom lip. Her eye was all puffy and turning dark shades of black and blue.

"Sweety wha---"

"DON'T CALL ME SWEETY," She growled, "And don't touch me, how could you do this?"

"Oh cut the crap Stacy, we both know you slept with that--gimp."

She couldn't believe this was happening right now, the world was spinning her in circles. She needed to leave, to get away.

"-- I knew it the minute you--"

"Mark I want a divorce," She said, barely above a whisper. Mark blinked his eyes in confusion.

"What?"

"I want, a divorce"


	9. NY Batteri

Chapter 10: NY Batteri

Thursday - "NY Batteri"

Barbwire Stapled In My Mouth That Bleeds Me Locked In A Cage Naked Animals Beat Me And A Savior Knocks An Untamed Puts In New Batteries And Charges Once Again And Charges Once Again And Charges Once Again And Charges Once Again We Set Off Into The Unknow Until We Destroy Everything And Are Dominant Once Again Once Again Once Again Once Again In The Back Where We Ride Again The Barbwire In My Mouth That Rips Up An Old Healed Wound Have Become A Rusty Soul The Electricity Is Gone I Want To Cut And Slice Myself To Death But I Don't Have The Courage I Rather Turn Myself Off I'm Alone Again

"What?"

"I want a divorce"

Mark shook his head and looked around, a little lost while Stacy went back to packing her clothes.

"You never loved me, did you?" He asked. Stacy stopped and looked down, she had loved Mark, he was sweet, caring, a gentlemen, and at some point exactly what she thought she wanted and needed. That was what she thought, until she saw House for the first time in over 5 years and her body went tingly all over. Mark was a great guy, despite the last months but that was both their faults, you cant be with someone you don't truly love, and if you are you aren't ever truly happy.

"Mark I did love you, and a part of me still does but I just don't think it's going to work."

Mark nodded his head in agreement, he had a feeling something like this would happen, In the end the truth was he just couldn't compete with House for Stacy's heart, he'd taken it long ago. He was still a little bitter an jealous but what was he going to do, if she wanted to go he had to let her.

"Are you at least going to tell me what happened to you?"

Stacy felt her body go numb again.No. She wouldn't talk about it. Finishing her suitcase, she stood infront of Mark and reached up to lay a tiny kiss on his cheek before gathering her stuff from the bathroom. When she had everthing she stood in the bedroom doorway and glared at the tramp in her bed, then turned her attention to Mark.

"When I find someplace to stay, I'll comeback and get all my stuff, I don't want the house." She said. Taking one last look at him she walked out to her car, determined to find a hotel for the night and get some sleep, she would worry about everything else in the morning.

* * *

House lay on the couch after a 3 hour workout watching "Mr. Doubtfire." He was relaxing after a long day at work and soothing his leg, he'd worked out and extra hour today after he came home angry as hell from getting 5 extra clinic hours and decided to take it out on his weights and body. He'd even did some boxing with the new boxing bag he bought, pretending it was Cuddy of course, it went right along with his dartboard that had her face taped on it.

Somewhere between the last few months, he'd found himself getting angry or ticked off easier than usual (shocker). Now though, when he got angry or depressed he wouldn't drink himself into a scotch induced stupor, but workout until his entire body ached and screamed for rest. He felt alive when he worked out, almost as if his leg didn't matter, made him feel content with himself, he liked that. Making sure not to overdue it of course, even though somdays he would teeter on the edge, he never crossed it. It was his getaway, he liked the burn, like a substitute for scotch. He never worried about how much muscle he gained or even cared for it, even though he knew his body was in the best shape it had been in years, (except the leg, of course) he mostly liked the side effects, the burn, the sweat, the short and shaky breathes it caused him, almost as if he could run again.

During the day though when he had no weights to take his mind of things, only his Ipod and gameboy or cringe a case, his thoughts multiplied by the thousands. At least one of her every other thought, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldnt stop. 'Go to the grocery store,' what about Stacy?''pay the bills''what about Stacy?" There was no doubt that House missed her, he'd even asked himself a few times if he'd done the right thing, if saving her from him was such a good thing after all. He couldnt even save himself from himself so how was he going to save her? It was just like the first time she left, except this time he had a new addiction. One that gave him ripped abs and a rock hard chest and arms.

On the couch with a pair of sweats and his red t shirt, he watched Steve McQueen wander around his cage and run on his little wheel. House couldnt believe how much he had come to care for this rat, stoppin in the pet isle to buy him a little toy every now and then. He thought it might be because of who the rat was associated with and what happened that night. They forgave eachother. What hurt more was House meant everyword he had said, he did forgive her, now she was gone and they hadn't even had a chance to mend and heal the rest of their broken relationship and wounds. Always, deep down, he would always wish she would come back.


End file.
